Consider your strengths and ponder your passions

Whilst certain markets can look lucrative, if you enter them without the adequate expertise you’ll be in no place to succeed. Instead, consider your strengths and think about how best you can apply these.

Elsewhere, pondering your passions can exacerbate creativity as by knowing a product, issue or industry inside out, you’ll know better how it can be improved.

Find a problem and think about how you can fix it

Pondering things you’re passionate about will help you identify problems, but just looking around you you’ll see that the world is ripe with staid products and industries ready to be improved.

Look, listen and learn

Speak to friends and family, trawl internet forums, keep your eyes and ears open wherever you go. People like to moan (well here in the UK they do anyway) so think how you can address their problems.

Inspiration can come in many shapes and guises. By looking, listening and learning, you’ll help instigate the creative process.

Do some crystal ball gazing

I don’t mean literally of course, unless that’s your thing.

Considering the future can help creatively though, examining trends and technological developments helping to shape your business ideas. Look at the early dot.com entrepreneurs, they foresaw a growing trend, took a risk and many received huge rewards.

None of us are Nostradamus, so sift through the stats and studies, and see where the opportunities lie.

Lastly, never underestimate the power of cutting costs

Even after taking all these steps innovative ideas can still be had be hard to come by. Don’t be defeated though.

By merely cutting costs, you’ll draw customers’ in. If you can increase quality whilst doing so, even better. In today’s tumultuous economy, price is paramount and people will flock to your product if you can better competitors.

The success of retail chain Primark is a clear example of the power of cutting costs. Yet to expand to the US, it’s caused quite a commotion in Europe, so much so a mini riot ensued at its opening down London’s Oxford Street.

Mimicking the styles and designs of their pricier competitors, they offer a cheaper version of similar quality. Clearly then, you don’t always need to innovate like Apple.